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Angels part ways with scout behind Trout pick

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

The Los Angeles Angels have informed scout Greg Morhardt that his contract will not be renewed for the 2015 campaign, effectively parting ways with the man largely responsible for the decision to select Mike Trout in the first round of the 2009 draft.

Morhardt, who served as an area scout before becoming a national cross-checker, encouraged the Angels to draft Trout after watching the muscular New Jersey native play in high school. 

"I didn't think there was a better player than Mikey," Morhardt told the Orange County Register in 2012. "I'll put him against anybody. Sometimes you have to jump out there a little bit. I didn't think there was a better amateur player in the country. At some point he's going to have a chance to be a Hall of Fame baseball player."

General manager Jerry Dipoto, meanwhile, declined to comment on the decision, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.

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